Knicker turn-up spreader



Jan. 5, 1937. M. REICH KNICKER TllTRN-UP SPREADER Filed Feb. '13, 1955Patented Jan. 5, 1937 UNITED STATES vATNT OFFICE 4 Claims.

The invention to be hereinafter described relates to knicker turn-upspreaders.

Knickers for men and boys have. long been in use for various out doorsports. More recently,

.5 they have been becoming generally worn by women in'various sports.'The bottoms of the legs are secured in place around the legs of thewearer by buckles andstraps, elastics, knit cuffs, draw strings,buttons, etc., which grip the leg. Knick- 10, :ers are favored forsports wear because they are roomy and loose and give complete freedomof ,action. Nevertheless, the gripping of the leg by .the securingmeans, has long been considered a drawback and an objection. By tightly.closing 15 the lowerwendof the 'knicker leg, about the leg of thewearer, circulation is interfered with, and

all upward air circulation is cut ofi and all re- .1suitingcoolingventilationis lost, which, of course, are seriousobjections of the present knickers. bviously,-the addition of thesecuring means adds .to the COStOf production; 0f even greaterobjecation is total lack of length adjustment. In boys knickers this isparticularly needed. Growing children, especially, soon requirelengthening of knickers. In the knickers as now obtainable on themarket, there is no provision for readily changing the length. 1

The present invention overcomes all of the 'above objections andprovides a simple, eflicient,

. inexpensive construction which may be applied in minimum time,with-very little labor and extremelysmall cost. It provides a knickerwhich :may be quickly-and easily lengthened and shortened'withoutalterations of the knickeritself as 5 far as cutting orshaping-ofthecloth is concerned. -It provides *an open ended", --free hanging, wellwshaped, knioker withfull ventilation and unrestrictedcirculation. I 111 Applicant is thoroughly familiar with United ,rStates'Fatent1,306,935,inwhich-buttons and tabs narerused tosecure an-upwardlyinturned portion. In order to moreclearly disclose the construction,operation" and used theinvention, reference .is hereby made to theaccompanying drawing .45 forming part of the present-application.

1:55 one spreader in plan initsloop;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with spreaders up or operative.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section on line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal cross-section of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 5,

showing a modified spreader; and,

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the modified spreader ofFig. 7.

The general construction as well as various types of knickers for men,women and children are all well known and, therefore, will not beillustrated or described in this application.

In order to illustrate the inventiomit has been shown in the drawing asapplied to a part of a knicker leg. It is applied to both legs, ofcourse, and in the same way toeach. A description of one is equally adescription of the other. Conse quently, only one leg will be shown anddescribed, as that will give a full and complete disclosure of theinvention. It will be understood that the invention is applicable totubular parts of garments such as the leg or relatively large diametersleeves, such as might be found in certain types of sport coats. Itwould be constructed and applied and would operate in substantially thesame way for such a sleeve. Therefore, the illustration as applied to asleeve isunnecessary in this case, that for the leg being ample.

In all cross-section-views in this application, the parts have beenconsiderably exaggerated and are out of relative proportion, forclearness. Were the relative proportions maintained, the views would beunnecessarily large.

Assume that a pair of boys knickers is to be made with the presentinvention applied. The chosen piece of material is measured for length.From the end of this measurement is added approximately three andone-half inches. Or to state it a little diiferently, the givenmeasurement is increased three and one-half inches, more or less. Thisincrease provides a portion which may be properly termed the turn-up iwhich, as shown in Fig. 4 is turned or folded upwardly within the lowerend of the knicker leg, when the knicker is completed. In boys knickersthis turn-up is tapered, as shown, from an approximate leg width ofabout twenty inches at the'end of the measurement to an approximate legwidth of fifteen inches at the lower end of the turn-up. It is, ofcourse, understood,tl1at the measurements vary somewhat withinrecognized limits, according to circumstances and the particular pair ofknickers. This turn-up, together with the proper proportions, which arewell known, gives the fullness orlooseness characteristic of knickers.But, the great difficulty has been to find some practical, efficient andsatisfactory way of reliably permanently extending and supporting theturn-up, without fastening it to the leg of the knick-er and, at thesame time, to provide a very simple and thoroughly satisfactory way forlength adjustment, not requiring the services of an experienced tailor.The turn-up, unsupported, would simply drop, of its own weight. In thepreferred form of my invention, I accomplish these results by attachingshort spreaders or supporting members 2 of whale bone, metal, fibre orother suitable material to the inner side of the turn-up and extendingsubstantially the vertical length of the turn-up. In the drawing, I haveshown four such members. With many kinds of cloth that number gives bestresults. With some kinds of cloth, two will be suficient, while withothers, six may be advisable. A sufficient number, according to thecharacter of the cloth, are used to adequately spread and support theturn-up. They are, preferably, placed at equal distances apart andsuitably spaced from seams and like parts. They cooperate with the clothin the same way that fence posts cooperate with the fence wires, theykeep the cloth up and extended or supported, and prevent it fromsagging. Without such members, the weight of the cloth, alone, wouldcause it to sag down and unroll out of the bottom of the leg, betweenthe knicker leg and the wearers leg. With the spreaders, such sagging orunrolling is impossible. Instead, the spreaders tend to swing or rockinwardly about their lower ends. As they do. they carry the full heightand width of the turn-up with them. The distance between the inside ofthe knicker leg and the leg of the wearer is slight. Consequently, thespread turn-up soon contacts the wearers leg and is prevented fromdropping down. Of course, only a very light, hardly noticeable, touch isall that is necessary to stop the swing of the turn-up. The spreaders,by keeping the cloth extended, or spread, prevent its rolling and inthat way slipping or falling down. I have found that a width of aboutone quarter of an inch is very satisfactory for these spreaders, butthey may vary within the discretion of the user and according to theparticular circumstances or requirements of the individual case.

One very practical and acceptable way of applying these spreaders isshown in the drawing. It comprises a loop 3 stitched or sewed to theinside of the turn-up. Preferably, each loop-there is one for eachspreader-extends substantially the full length, vertically, of theturn-up, from the lower edge. The loop may be open at both ends. Thelower end, however, extends within the usual hem 4 at the end of theturn-up and is closed by the cloth of the hem. Of course, it may bestitched closed, if desired, though that is not necessary. In thisarrangement, each spreader is simply slipped under the loop or betweenit and the knicker leg, just as it would be slipped into a pocket.Other, though less satisfactory ways of holding the spreaders in placewould be to provide them with perforations and stitch them to theturn-up, or to form loops or pockets similar to the one above mentionedbut by stitching the cloth of the side-seams of the leg to the inside ofthe leg. A still further way would be to line the turn-up and stitch thelining at various points to form a series of loops. Or to provide themwith pockets and secure the pockets in place with snap fasteners. Theseseveral ways will be thoroughly understood by those familiar with theclothing business and need not be further illustrated or detailed indescription.

A modification is shown in Figs. '7 and 8. Here, instead of a series ofseparate and independent spreaders, a single continuous spreader 5 isused.

This, preferably, is a piece of heavy duck, canvas or similar stiffmaterial. Or it may be in two or more pieces, as is most practical forthe particular knickers. It is simply suitably secured to the turn-up lon the inside and extends as do the spreaders 2, substantially thevertical length of the turn-up. It operates in the same way andaccomplishes the same results.

One of the main objects of the present invention and the principalpurpose of the spreading means is to keep the cloth of the turn-upextended to the full width (vertically) or spread, or verticallysupported, so that it must swing like a gate or door to getabove orbelow the end of the knicker. This is the distinctive characteristic ofthe present invention. When this knicker is put on, the wearer stepsinto it just as he does into any pair of pants. The spreader is then inthe position of Fig. 1, down. Next, the wearer tucks the turn-up I up,to the position of Fig. 4. The cloth, of course, is flexible and may befolded suitable to tuck" up to the position of Fig. 4, as will bereadily understood. It may, of course, be similarly turned down to theposition of Fig. 1. But, the spreaders prevent the cloth rolling, orslipping, or otherwise dropping down by gravity.

It will be understood that any other suitable spreading means may beused which will substantially accomplish the same result and that anyother suitable means may be used for maintaining the spreading means inoperative position.

i It is meant to include all of these within this application.

As mentioned, one very important point of this.

of the turn-up to slip down, as it would if there'y 45 were no spreader.This lengthens the leg to a corresponding degree. Likewise, to shortenthe leg, it is only necessary to substitute longer spreaders. It isbelieved that this will be obvious and readily understood and requiresno illustra-' tion nor further description.

It might be mentioned here, that for mens knickers having a width oftwenty inches at the end of the measurement, the turn-up is narrowed tosixteen inches, approximately, instead of fifteen. It has been proventhat the approxi mate measurements of fifteen inches for boys andsixteen for men, is the most satisfactory.

Of course, the measurements, proportions, designs, and other details forladies knickers are considerably different, from the same for mens andboys. Those differences are all well understood and need not bementioned here, as they form no part of the present invention. Likewise,the various details of proportions, and construction of mens and boysknickers are all well known and need no mention, and form no part of thepresent invention. This invention would be incorporated in ladiesknickers just at it is in boys and mens.

It should be stated that the entire turn-up, when in the operativeposition of Fig. 4, is appreciably below the knee of the wearer, asworn, just as is the blouse portion or lower-leg fullness of every otherknicker.

It is believed that the construction, operation and use of the inventionwill be clear from the preceding detailed description.

Many changes may be made in the construetion, arrangement anddisposition of the various portion and adapted to maintain said portionspread.

2. A knicker comprising a leg having a tapered turn-up portion incontinuation of one end, loops carried by said portion, and spreadersremovably mounted in said loops and extending to the minimum diameter ofsaid turn-up portion and adapted to maintainsaid portion spread.

3. A knicker leg having a flexible tapered turnup section incontinuation of its lower end and having its lower edge diameter theminimum diameter of the knicker leg, loops carried by the inner face ofsaid turn-up portion, and spreaders removably mounted in said loops,extending the full length of said turn-up portion and extending to theminimum diameter thereof and adapted to maintain said portion spread atall times.

4. A knicker comprising a leg having a tapered turn-up portion incontinuation of one end, a plurality of spreaders for said turn-upportion and extending to the minimum diameter of said turn-up portionand adapted to maintain said portion spread, and means for removablysecuring said spreaders, each separately, to said turn-- 20 up portion.

MORRIS REICH.

